Rempel Garner says welfare ruling for man in Canada illegally should ‘offend anyone’ who values fairness

OTTAWA — Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner is calling for changes to social assistance rules after an Ontario tribunal found a man it acknowledged was “here illegally” remained eligible for Ontario Works.The demand, issued Monday, follows a May 6 rescinding an October 2025 decision that denied the man’s application because of his immigration status.The man testified that he arrived in Canada on a temporary work permit in 1997 and remained after it expired four years later.“They identified they were able to support themselves via cash jobs up until 2023 when they then entered the shelter system,” the ruling states.Ontario Works argued the man lacked the immigration status required to receive social assistance.The man argued that provincial regulations exclude three categories of people based on their status: tourists, visitors and people subject to enforceable removal orders.He maintained that he did not fall within any of those categories.“The Tribunal agrees with the Appellant that the Regulation excludes three classes of people on the basis of their status in Canada,” tribunal member Eric Brown wrote..The tribunal found the man was neither a tourist nor a visitor because of the length of time he had lived in Canada and the roots he had established.An immigration search conducted when he initially applied for assistance in August 2023 did not identify an active removal order.The ruling said Ontario Works did not conduct another search after his October 2025 application “in order to avoid possibly jeopardizing the Appellant’s situation in Canada.”“The Tribunal does concur with the Respondent’s position that the Appellant has no status in Canada and is here illegally,” Brown wrote.“However, the Tribunal agrees with the Appellant’s position that these are not prerequisites for OW assistance given the language within section 6 of the Regulation, only that the Appellant not fall under one of the three exclusionary criteria.”The tribunal ruled that the man remained eligible for Ontario Works “with respect to status” and rescinded the administrator’s decision.Rempel Garner said the decision undermines the principle that people entering Canada should do so legally and work toward becoming self-sufficient.“This ruling should offend anyone who values an immigration system grounded in fairness and public trust,” she said.Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also criticized the ruling and said his government would consider changing provincial regulations.“We will always be there to support people on hard times — but that doesn’t include people living in Canada illegally,” Ford said.Rempel Garner called on the federal Liberal government to support any measures introduced by Ontario in response to the decision.“The baseline for this principle is obeying the law, getting a job and economically contributing to the community in which they live,” she said.“Most immigrants come to Canada and do exactly that. But if the opposite behaviour is normalized, public sentiment toward immigrants as a whole can shift.”Rempel Garner also criticized federal health coverage for rejected asylum claimants and cited the Supreme Court of Canada’s March decision involving refugee claimants and Quebec’s subsidized daycare system.The Supreme Court ruled that excluding refugee claimants from the program had a disproportionate effect on women and violated the Charter’s equality protections.Conservatives said Quebec should consider invoking the notwithstanding clause if it wants to restrict access to the program.The Ontario tribunal’s decision was based on the wording of the province’s existing regulations and does not prevent the government from changing its eligibility rules.

Rempel Garner says welfare ruling for man in Canada illegally should ‘offend anyone’ who values fairness

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